Machine for making tubes



4 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

M. E. FITZPATRI'OK &'W. GEDDES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES. No. 431,041. Patented July 1, 1890.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

M. E. FITZPATRIOK & W. GEDDES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

No.'43 1 ,041. Patented July 1, 1890.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. M. E. PITZPAT-RIOK & W. GEDDES.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

Patented July 1, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC MICHAEL E. FlTZPATRICK, OF BRIDGEPORT, AND \VILLIAM GEDDES, OF WVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,041, dated July 1, 1890.

Application filedDecember 23, 1889. $erial No. 335,175. (No model.)

T to whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MICHAEL E. FITZPAT- RICK and WILLIAM Gnnnns, citizens of the United States, residing, the former at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, and the latter at WVaterbury, county of New Haven, in said State, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of and Machine for Drawing Metal; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in machines for swaging and drawing metal; and the object of our invention in this regard is to provide a machine which may be used in the production of wire, or of rods, or of tubes in continuous lengths, or of special rods or tubes of special lengths or sizes, or of shafting, or of drawn shells of various kinds and sizes.

Furthermore, our invention relates to, and in part consists in, a new and useful method particularly adapted for the production of hollow work-such as tubes or shells-and which will presently be explained.

\Vith the ends hereinbefore set forth in view our invention consists in the method, and in the construction and combination of (lo-operating mechanical elements hereinafter fully and in detail set forth, and then recited in the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may fully understand the construction and operation of our machine and the application of our method, we will describe the same in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in Wl1l011- Figurel isa side elevation of our improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan View, partly in horizontal longitudinal section,the section through the head being on line a; 00 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the head, looking from the right of Fig. 1. The face-plate is removed in this figure and a portion is in section. Fig. 4. isan end elevation of the head, similar to Fig. 3, but with the face-plates in position.

8 is a detail sectional elevation, line mm of Fig. i

5, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the same parts which are shown at Fig. 2 as forming one operative section of the head. Fig. 10 is a detail section showing a tube having arranged therein a mandrel and in proper position between a pair of dies. Figs. l1, 12, 13, and let are sections of various shells adapted to be formed by means of the machine. Fig. 15 is a section through a hollowended billet.

Like numerals and letters denote the same parts in all the figures.

Figs. 1 and 2 are upon a scale of one thirtysecond of an inch to the inch.

A is a base, upon which the head, presently to be described in detail, is supported. Said base, when the machine is constructed upon the scale above referred to, is usually placed in a pit, as shown at Fig. 1, so that the dies above the floor for easy access and manipulation.

jecting standard B, having at its top a journalbearing, whose purpose will presently ap-,

pear.

C D are frames, upon which are mounted the feeding mechanisms. These frames are duplicates; but as one with its supported mechanism .is designed to feed the work by a pushing movement and the other by a pulling movement we have lettered thepushing feed-frame C and the pulling feed-frame D, so that these mechanisms, when either is referred to as an entirety, may be readily distinguished.

1 is the head, which is mounted upon the base A, and which is substantially a large ring forming a support for the several parts of the drawing mechanism.

2 is a ring arranged within the head. (See sectional Fig. 2.)

3 is a hub, which might be made fromasingle piece, but which we show as consisting of two combined cylindrical sections. Said hub has a central opening of considerable size, into which bushings, as 4.,may be inserted for the accommodation of Work of various sizes. The forward part of said hub hasa journalbearing in the ring 2, and the rear end of said hub is journaled in the bearing on the top of of the standard B,which has been heretofore referred to and which is numbered 5.

6 is a pulley keyed to the rear end of the hub. By means of this pulley the required rotary motion is imparted to the hub and the elements which are carried by the latter.

7 represents a pair of dies whose inner working-surfaces are conformed according to the exterior contour of the articles to be produced. (See, for instance, Fig. 10, in which they are shown as adapted to reduce the exterior diameter of a tube arranged upon a mandrel.) These dies are placed in a channel or groove which extends across the face of the hub, (see Fig. 2, dotted lines, and the elevation Fig. 3,) and upon either side said dies are supported by abutting-blocks 8, having squared inner ends and rounded outer ends, which latter project beyond the periphery of the hub, as clearly appears at Figs. 2 and 3. These blocks we term drivers, on account of their method of operation upon the dies, which will presently be explained.

9 is a cap-plate, which is substantially identical in size with the end of the hub. It is cutaway at its center, and. a die-mouth 10 is secured to it, as by screws.

11 is an annular cap-plate, which is screwed to the face of the ring 2, and whose inner edge overlaps the outer ends of the drivers, and thereby prevents them from leaving the groove in the face of the hub.

12 are adjusting-screws passed radially inward through the head.

13 are blocks having squared outer ends, against which the screws 12 abut, said blocks having concaved inner ends, (see Fig. 3,) which form bearings for the toggles now to be described. Through the head 1 and the ring 2 is a series of holes 14, extending from front to rear and arranged one adjacent to each of the screws 12. Through these holes pass rockshafts 15, considerably smaller than the holes, each rock-shaft having rigidly secured thereon at its rear end an arm or crank 16, and near its front end a toggle-block 17, convexin plan View at its outer end and fitting against the blocks 13, and concave at its inner end. rock-shafts aforesaid arej ournaledin bearings 17 which are secured at the back and front of the head by screws passed through elongated holes, (see Fig. 9,) so as to permit to the blocks on the outside of the head and to the shafts within the holes 14 a slight radial movement. The blocks and shafts are normally heldoutward, so that the toggle-blocks are against the blocks 13 and the latter against the inner end of the screws 12 by means of any suitable springs, as 18, which are interposed between the bearings and some The fixed part of the head, as the pins or posts 19, Fig. 2, or the socket-and-pin arrangement, which is shown at Fig. 9. Of course any inward adjustment of the blocks and toggles by means of the screws 12 will be against the springs. However, such adjustment is only necessary for the purpose of taking up wear,

-and therefore need not be very great in its extent.

20 are springs attached to the crank-arms at the rear of the rock-shafts and to the head.

The function of these springs is to keep the.

toggle-blocks normally turned, as seen at Fig. 3, with their lengths at an angle to the radii of the head.

It will be understood that in this machine the same toggle-blocks and drivers are used upon all sizes of work of which the machine is capable, the change for the accommodation of various-sized articles being effected by perform the actual swaging operation, a de scription of which will be hereinafter set forth.

We will now, therefore, proceed to describe the means whereby the swaging elements are rendered capable of operatingto produce continuous lengths of metal of perfectly even quality and finish, and these means include feeding devices, supports for mandrels, devices for obviating the damage which the wrenching action of the dies would do to the metal were it held rigidly as against any rotation on it axis, and means for applying power for the feeding. Each of the feedingframes 0 D is preferably arranged to slide toward and away from the head, for the purpose of ready access to the latter for changing bushings anddies and thelike. Upon each of these frames is a feeding-carriage 21, arranged upon ways 22, as seen at Fig. 5, and beneath the carriage is a longitudinally-extended feed-screw 23, which turns in bearings at each end of the frame. The inner end bearings of the screws are not shown, and the forward ends of the screws are broken away in front of the feed-carriages.

2t are gears at the ends of the feedingscrews, and 25 are other gears on alongitudinal shaft 26, whereby the screws are rotated and in that way the carriages moved forward. The bearings of shaft 26 are not shown, since they may be of any ordinary construction.

27isthen1andrel-carrriage,whichis mounted on the ways 22 and is provided with abindingscrew 28, whereby it may be held in any desired position. Upon said carriage is a chuck 29, of any suitable construction, adapted to grasp the end of a mandrel, as 53, when the machine is operated forthe production of tubes or other hollow work. At its center the feeding-carriage is cutaway, (see Figs. 5, 6, and 7,) and is ahalf nut which extends downward through said opening and engages the feeding-screw.

31 is alever fulcrumed to the carriage. An upward extension of the nut just referred to is pivoted to the lever, which serves to actuate said nut either into or out of engagement with the screw.

32 are downward extensions at either end of the opening through the carriage. They serve as guides for the nut and prevent it from any lengthwise movement when pushed by the screw. In front of the opening there projects upward from the carriage a standard 33, having an opening therethrough, into which bushings as 33, of varied interior diameter, may be inserted. A screw 34 serves to secure the bushing. (See Fig. 7.)

35 are gripper-jaws pivoted together and arranged alongside the standard 33. Their inner faces are cut away, so as to fit over the flanged end of the bushin but sufficient b7 clearance is afforded where they are cut away,

' so that their edges may grasp the tube or other article to be operated upon. The handle ends 36, Fig. 5, of these jaws are pierced vertically and a bolt 37 extends through them. Said bolt is pivotally secured at its upper end to a curved lever 38, and at its lower end has an adjustable nut, by means of which the jaws may be drawn together. A spring 39 surrounds the bolt between the handles. The lever 38 has a cam 40, whose end bears on the top of the upper handle, and an adjustable weight 41 near its outer end. A bolt 42, having a nut 43, extends upward from the lever 31 through the lever 38. The object of this mechanism is to grasp the work with a certain grip while it is being fed along to the dies, but to release it when the feeding operaiion is caused to cease by the disengagement of the nut and screw, and also to permit the work when compressed between the dies to yield slightly about its axis, whereby any wrenching of the fibers is avoided, while at the same time as soon as the compression ceases the work returns to the same axial position as when first grasped. The opera tion of these elements will be hereinafter set forth.

. For the purpose of securing the automatic release of the work at any predetermined point, and for the further purpose of cutting off the feeding movement of the carriage, we provide a mechanism which is substantially as follows:

Depending from the side of the carriage is an apron orplate 44, Fig. 8-. Upon this apron is pivoted a lever 45, having over its pivotal point a gear 46. Beneath this gear is a toothed segment 47, having an outwardly-exten ding arm 48, on which is arranged a ball 49. 50 is a pivoted leg, whose end when set (see -Figs. 1 and 8) rests upon a bracket or shelf 51 near the bottom of the apron.

52 is a trip-bar, which, as hereinafter will be explained, is adapted to trip the leg and permit the ball 49 to drop.

NVe will first describe the operation of the drawing mechanism and thereafter the operation of the feeding devices which co-operate with the dies. from any suitable source of power the large pulley and the hub to which it is connected are caused to revolve at a high rate of speed. As the dies and the blocks, which we have heretofore referred to as the drivers, are ar-' ranged in the transverse slot or groove in the face of the hub,it will be readily understood that they are carried with said hub.

The ends of the drivers project beyond the periphery of the hub into the field of the concave-ended toggle-blocks, which operate upon the drivers and through the drivers upon the dies in the following'manner: I11 their revolution the round-ended drivers engage the concave ends of the toggle-blocks and turn said blocks. with them upon their pivotal points until the parts are in the position shown at Fig. 3-that is to say, in passing the toggle-blocks said blocks impart to the drivers and the dies a violent inward squeezing movement,which operates to draw the metal which is being worked in the machine, and which continues until after the drivers have passed the center of the toggle-blocks. hen the drivers have passed out of operative contact with the toggles,the springs at the rear of the head, against whose action the turning of the toggle-blocks and rock-shafts was effected, return said toggle-blocks to their normal positions. e have shown the head as provided with six toggle-blocks, and as they operate in pairs it will readily be understood that there is imparted to the dies at each revolution of the hub three violent inward squeezing impulses, which operate to compress and swage the metal which is within the dies. The arrangement of the rock-shafts which carry the toggle-blocks and the method whereby they may be adjusted inward and out- By means of a belt driven.

ward for the purpose of taking up wear have already been, as we believe, sufficiently de scribed. The radially-arranged screws form the supports against which the outward squeeze movement is taken up.

In order that the dies shall produce work of constant exterior diameter, and in order that all parts of a given piece of work may receive the same manipulation, it is necessary that the work should be fed along with a constant and regular movement. This we accomplish by clamping the tube or shaft to be drawn in the jaws upon the feeding-carriage, the grasp of said jaws being determined by the position of the weight upon the outwardlyextending lever. Behind the clamping-jaws the work passes through the bushing in the vertical standard; but this is not for the purpose of clamping, but simply to steady the pushing movement of the screw acting upon the carriage, it will be understood that each time the inward squeezing movement of the dies occurs said movement will tend, in combination with the rotary movement of the hub, to turn the work upon its axis for the space duringwhich said work is in the grasp of the dies. If the work were held in the carriage so as to be incapable of any axial,

yielding grasp upon the tube, whereby the wrenching of the work is avoided, and at the same time a steady feed of the material insured, constitutes one of the principal features of our invention.

In the manufacture of work such as tubes of considerable length we find that it is advantageous to feed said tube by the pushing movement until said work is well through the dies, and then to throw off the pushingfeed and to complete the operation by pulling the work along from the other side. As it may be found advantageous that the feed should be changed automatically, we have provided the throw-off mechanism which is carried upon the apron at the side of the carriage, and which is particularly illustrated at Fig. 8. The weighted arm is normally supported by the pivoted leg until said leg is tripped by means of a suitable device, which carries it out of engagement with the bracket. WVhen so carried out of engagement, the ball drops, turning the segment upon its axis, and thereby, through the pinion, imparting a sudden upward throw to the lever to which said pinion is attached. The upward movement raises the lever to which the half-nut is secured, and at the same time and through said lever raises the weighted lever, by means of which the grasp of the clamping-jaws is insured. This releases the work.

In making the change from the pushingfeed to the pulling-feed it is usual that the latter shall be engaged with the work just prior to the disengagement of the former, so that when said disengagement takes place the feeding will not be interrupted.

We are aware that machines for pointing wire embodying sectional dies operated by toggle-blocks or levers have heretofore been constructed, and we do not therefore desire to be understood as laying claim, broadly, to the use of said dies. We are not aware, however, that this principle has been utilized in any machine in which the dies are capable of handling work, either of a continuous charactor or in considerable lengths. Furthermore, we are not aware thatthe principle herein set forth has ever been used for the production of tubing or other hollow work,

nor are we aware that any mechanism for continuously feeding the work from either side of the machine has been combined with swaging apparatus of the kind herein described. The bushing, which is combined with the sectional dies and receives the work immediately after it has been swaged, is highly advantageous for the production of good work, since it furnishes a support for said work and prevents it from acquiring any vibratory movement.

, \Ve claim 1. In a swaging-machine of thecharacter described, the combination, with a mandrel for the interior support of tubes and similar hollow work, of a pair of sectional dies, means for imparting to said dies a rapid rotary movement about the work and its mandrel, and means, as described, for the proper inward feeding of said work, substantially as specified.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a mandrel for the interior support of hollow work, of a pair of dies and means for rotating them, a set of toggles whereby inward squeezing movements are imparted to said dies, a removable bushing arranged at the rear of said dies and closely adapted to the exterior of the drawn tube, and means for imparting a suitable inward feeding movement to the work, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a machine as describcd,the combination, with the head, the sectional dies, and the toggle-blocks whereby said dies are operated inwardly upon the metal, of a feeding mechanism operating from the front of the machine to push the work inward, and a similar mechanism at the rear of the machine, whereby the work may be drawn through the dies by a pulling movement.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a pair of rotary compressing-dies and means for operating them inward against the work, of a work-holding clamp capable of yielding axially in the direction of rotation of the dies,.and means for forcing said clamp longitudinally for feeding the work, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with the compressing-dies, means for imparting rotation to said dies, and further means for imparting to said dies their inward compressing movements, of a workholding clamp adapted to yield axially in the direction of rotation of the dies, means for restoring said clamp to its normal position, and feeding mechanism whereby said clamp is advanced for the presentation of the work to the dies.

6. In a swagingmachine, the combination, with the dies and means for operating the same, of a feeding-carriage, means for moving ICC Ilf

7 stantially as set forth.

7. In a sWaging-machine, the combination, with the swaging devices and the means for operating the same,'of a feeding-carriage, a clamp carried upon said carriage, and means connected to the clamp, whereby it is normally held in one position relative to the work, and whereby when turned from that position and released it will be restored.

S. In a swaging-machine, the combination, with the dies and the means for operating the same, of the feeding-carriage, the feeding screw, and the partial nut adapted to engage said screw, of the clamp, the means whereby oscillatory movement is permitted thereto, and a connection between the nut and the clamp, whereby the release of the former effects the release of the latter, substantially as set forth.

9. Ina machine of the character described, the combination, with the rotary dies and means for imparting to said dies their inward squeezing movement, of a removable bushing arranged at the rear of said dies and closely adapted to the exterior of the finished work, a feeding mechanism in front of the machine adapted to advance the work, and another feeding mechanism at the rear of the dies adapted to draw in the work, substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with the dies and the means for operating them, of the feeding-carriage, the oscillatory clamping-jaws mounted thereon, and the weighted lever whereby the grasp of the jaws is effected and the return of said jaws to their normal position effected, substantially as specified.

11. In amachine of the character described, the combination, with the dies and means for operating them, of the feeding-carriage, the means for connecting said carriage with the feeding-screw. the oscillatory clamping-jaws, the weighted lever engaging said jaws, and the nut-operating lever, and a connection between the latter and the lever of the clamping-jaws, substantially as set forth.

12. In a swaging-machine, the combination, with the swaging devices and the feeding-earriage and clamp, substantially as set forth, of the lever at the side of the carriage, means for imparting to said lever a sudden-upward movement, and a trip whereby thelever-actuatingmechanism is controlled, substantially as specified.

13. In aswaging-machin'e, the combination, with the dies and means for rotating said dies, of toggles provided with spring-controlled rock-shafts, whereby the inward compressing movement of said dies is effected, and a removable bushing arranged longitudinally of the hub at the rear of said dies, whereby a close exterior support may be afforded to work of different sizes, substantiaily as described.

14. In a swaging-machine, the combination, with a mandrel for the support of a tube or shell, of a pair of dies, means for rotating said dies about the work, and means for imparting to said dies a succession of inward squeezing movements, feeding mechanism adapted to advance said tube and its 1nandrel for the operation of the dies upon the former, and a removable bushing closely adapted to the exterior of the tube and adapted to guide said tube afterit has passed the dies, substantially as set forth.

15. In a swaging-machine, the combination, with the head, of the radial adjusting and supporting screws, the toggles, the rock-shafts whereon said toggles are secured, cranks secured upon the rear ends of the rock-shafts, and springs secured to said cranks and adapted to hold the rock-shafts in their normal position, substantially as set forth.

16. In a swaging-machine, the combination, with the head, of the toggles arranged upon the face thereof, the rock-shafts whereon said toggles are supported, said rock-shafts extending through enlarged holes in the head, and spring-operated adjustable bearings arranged at either end of said rock-shafts and adapted to hold the latter normally outward, substantially as set forth.

17. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with the swaging devices, of a screw-operated feeding mechanism, as O, arranged to present the work to the dies by a pushing movement, a second screw-operated feeding mechanism, as D, adapted to feed the work by a pulling movement, and connecting mechanism, as the shaft 26, whereby the same rate of feeding movement is imparted to both carriages, substantially as set forth.

18. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a mandrel for the interior support of hollow work, of the compressingdies,means for rotating said dies,and means for imparting the compressing movement thereto, a removable bushing at the rear of the dies, a clamp for the Work having liberty of slight axial vibration, and means, as described,for advancing said clamp, substantially as de scribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

MICHAEL E. FITZPATRIOK. l/VILLIAM GEDDES.

Witnesses:

S. H. HUBBARD, WM. J. TANNER.

IIO 

